All Politics is now Global

Category Archives: Japan

US intelligence agencies have determined that China stole secrets relating to the F-35 jet fighter from a US contractor. Photo: Reuters

According to the annual report of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, Chinese cyber espionage is a “major problem” for America

China has gained military benefits in recent years from stealing defense secrets through industrial and cyber espionage carried out by its intelligence services, according to a US congressional report.

“In recent years, Chinese agents have extracted data on some of the most advanced weapons and weapons systems in the US arsenal, such as jet fighters and unmanned submersible vehicles,” states the annual report of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, released on November 16.

“The loss of these and other sensitive defense technologies undermines US military superiority by accelerating China’s military modernization and giving China insight into the capabilities and operation of US weapons and weapons systems,” the report adds. Continue reading →

BEIJING – There’s a Chinese saying that stems from the philosophy in Sun Tzu’s ancient text “The Art of War”: You can kill 1,000 enemies, but you would also lose 800 soldiers.

Centuries later, the proverb is suddenly apt again, being mentioned frequently in discussions around Beijing. Now, it highlights the potential damage U.S. President-elect Donald Trump could inflict if he makes good on his threat to start a trade war with China, the world’s second-biggest economy.

Having backed off some other campaign pledges, it’s unclear if Trump will end up slapping punitive tariffs on China — and Beijing has signaled some optimism he will be more pragmatic in office. Still, the message from China is that any move to tax Chinese imports would bring retaliation: The U.S. economy would take a hit and America would damage its long-standing ties with Asia. Continue reading →

One of the most discomforting aspects of Neil Howe and William Strauss’ seminal work on generational cycles, The Fourth Turning (1997), is the fact that as far as American history is concerned, they all climax and end with massive wars.Continue reading →

THEY CALLED IT Project X. It was an unusually audacious, highly sensitive assignment: to build a massive skyscraper, capable of withstanding an atomic blast, in the middle of New York City. It would have no windows, 29 floors with three basement levels, and enough food to last 1,500 people two weeks in the event of a catastrophe.

But the building’s primary purpose would not be to protect humans from toxic radiation amid nuclear war. Rather, the fortified skyscraper would safeguard powerful computers, cables, and switchboards. It would house one of the most important telecommunications hubs in the United States — the world’s largest center for processing long-distance phone calls, operated by the New York Telephone Company, a subsidiary of AT&T.

The building was designed by the architectural firm John Carl Warnecke & Associates, whose grand vision was to create a communication nerve center like a “20th century fortress, with spears and arrows replaced by protons and neutrons laying quiet siege to an army of machines within.” Continue reading →

America is unwilling to play global cop — and Beijing is filling the vacuum

There is little expectation in Asia that whoever emerges victorious in next week’s United States presidential election will be willing, or able, to play the world’s policeman as in the past.

The conviction that Washington cannot be counted on to mediate or resolve Asian disputes has grown during the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, both of whom were fixated on the Middle East. The performances of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump during this farcical election campaign have reinforced the view that Washington is of diminishing importance to Asia. Continue reading →

QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong; You have pointed out that both Republicans and Democrats have voted for wars and they really seem to have no differences on this issue. You have said they use the social issues to distinguish themselves, but war and economics they seem to always agree. Do you have any insight on this phenomenon? Continue reading →

China is a sovereign state in East Asia with a population of over 1.3 billion people. The nation possesses the world’s largest economy by some measurements, the world’s largest population and the fourth-largest territory.

These are the building blocks of a superpower. While the world anticipates China gaining superpower status, analysts debate on when and whether
its rise will be peaceful.

The Trumpet forecasts that China will continue to grow as a formidable power, combining its strength with Russia. Further, we forecast that it will play a major role in waging economic war that will devastate America.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has every reason to be proud of himself. He is a master of high geopolitical games. Moscow’s influence is more widespread than ever, possibly even greater than at the height of the Cold War, when Moscow was the capital of the Soviet Empire and vying with Washington for global dominance.

In the American presidential campaign, for the first time ever, a candidate openly quoted Putin as a model to follow, while in past decades, Russia, in its Soviet incarnation, was just the great enemy against which the United States should prepare to fight. Continue reading →

Now we have somewhat of a timeline until America begins being physically kicked out of Asia.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks at the Philippine Economic Forum in Tokyo on Oct. 26.

During the keynote speech at the Philippine Economic Forum held on the second day of Duterte’s three-day visit to Japan, he was emphatic that his country is no longer under the influence of other countries and underscored the importance of the dignity of the Philippine people.

“I want, maybe in the next two years, my country free of the presence of foreign military troops. I want them out, and if I have to revise or abrogate agreements, executive agreements, I will,” Duterte said. Since his inauguration in June, the president has repeatedly said he would no longer tolerate hosting U.S. troops in the Philippines, and he reiterated this statement in Tokyo. Continue reading →

Everything Duterte says is double-talk. However, one thing is clear: He is 100% anti-American. You can tell a tree by the fruit it produces and his actions are speaking louder than his two personalities. The United States has lost a major ally in Asia and one can’t help but wonder how long it will be before Japan jumps ship. This is a huge tectonic shift in Asia and will have global repercussions as it strengthens China and Russia.

As it’s been said here many times, with an America suiciding itself into the history books and becoming increasingly unreliable, many allies would rather join a China-lead bloc and umbrella protectorate than go to war against it and lose. The Philippines won’t be the first, or last, to bail out.

MANILA/TOKYO (Reuters)–Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte lashed out anew at the United States on Tuesday and said it could forget a bilateral defense deal if he stayed in power long enough, in the latest jarring statement from Manila about the future of the alliance.

The fresh broadside from Duterte came as he was about to board a plane for an official visit to fellow U.S. ally Japan, a big investor in the Philippines that is becoming nervous about its apparent pivot towards rival power China. Continue reading →

TOKYO — The Philippines’ newly found affection for China has sparked concern in Japan that it would embolden the Asian giant to expand more aggressively in the South China Sea.

Japan has worked with the U.S. and others to pressure China to accept an international arbitration ruling in July that rejected Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea. The ruling involved a case brought by the Philippines, but Manila has downplayed the decision in its favor.

The most significant geophysical event on our planet since the end of the ice age is taking place today—the opening of the Arctic. As the High North maritime environment warms, the Arctic Ocean’s abundant energy, minerals, fish stocks, and other natural resources are becoming increasingly accessible, while new potential maritime routes promise to reduce shipping times and costs and accelerate ties between major commercial centers. These new opportunities for energy development, natural resources extraction, and shipping suggest that the region risks becoming an arena of intense competition, tension, and potentially even confrontation, not only between the United States and its two near-peer strategic competitors—China and Russia—but also among other Asia-Pacific states with observer status in the Arctic Council. Continue reading →

Putin ordered a nuclear preparation drill last week involving more than 40 million people

RUSSIA has carried out a series of ballistic missile tests today as tensions with the US continue to rise over the conflict in Syria.

The Topol missile, the fastest in the world, was launched from a submarine in the Barents Sea off the Russian coast today as part of a series of ballistic tests.

Another was later shot from an island in the north-west of the country with its warhead hitting a simulated target, and a third missile – a nuclear-capable rocket – shot from a Pacific Fleet submarine in the Sea of Okhotsk, north of Japan.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence announced on 6 October the formation of a new long-range Heavy Bomber Division (Tyazheloy Bombardirovochnoy Aviatsionnoy Divizii, or HBD/TBAD). Stationed in the Far East, the unit’s role is to patrol the Pacific Ocean and, in particular, sea areas near to Japan, Hawaii, and Guam. Continue reading →